Ladder bracket



W. M PHERSON LADDER BRACKET Dec. 22, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 11. 1947 I N VEN TOR.

Mm- M PM Dec. 22, 1953 w. M PHERSON LADDER BRACKET 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 11, 1947 W U 77mg]?! NTOR BY I I HIM M h Dec. 22, 1953 w. M PHERSON 2,563,484

LADDER BRACKET Filed DEC. 11, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 W. M PHERSON LADDER BRACKET Dec. 22, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 11. 1947 A Q M 4 ow Q m Patented Dec. 22, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LADDER BRACKET William MacPherson, Westlake, Ohio Application December 11, 1947, Serial No. 791,045

3 Claims. Cl. 2285-60) This invention relates to scafiolding in general, and relates particularly to a staging bracket to hold aladder.

Ari-object of this invention is to provide means to balance a ladder in an upright position for use as a scaffolding member.

Another object of this invention is to provide a scaffold bracket which is easily mounted on a wall by one operator.

A further object of this invention is to reduce the twisting stress on the screws or other holding means used to attach a stagingbracket to a wall.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a staging bracket having separable parts which may be quickly and easily installed in relation to a wall surface by one man working alone. 7

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a staging bracket adaptable to support a ladder from a wall surface or'from a roof projection.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had be referring to the followingv description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the side of a house with two of the improved brackets of this invention employed to hold two ladders in an upright position for supporting a platform;

Figure 2 is a top view of the improved bracket as assembled for attachment to a wall surface, and illustrating a ladder therewith;

Figure 3 is a sectional view along the line 3 3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the front of a house with a modified form of this invention as employed to clamp onto the projection of the roof and supoprt a ladder in an uprightpos-ition for supporting one end of a platform;

Figure 5 is a side elevational view of the modified form of the invention as attached to a wall having lapped si'ding thereon;

Figure 6 is a top View ofthe modified form of the bracket as assembled for attachment to a wall surface, and illustrating a ladder therewith; and

Figure 7 is a side view of the bracket illustrated in" Figure 6.

Prior to the-present invention, staging brackets consisting basically of strap iron loops to engage a ladder and attach the ladder to the face of a wall, were used to good advantage. Other devices for holding a ladder in an upright position include; attachments from the ground to the ladder and serving to hold the ladder upright independently of any supporting wall; those employing permanent wall attachments; and those which engage a window and door opening. These devices, although useful, all have the drawback of being limited in their application because of the special equipment necessary to install and use the devices. The staging bracket previously described, although having the advantage of being securable to any wall surface in any position, and therefore being quite flexible in its use, has never been widely employed because the bracket arm extending from the wall is so long in comparison to the attachment base that slightmovements of the ladder very quickly loosen the attachment screws and allow the ladder to fall. Of course, such unreliable and unsafe devices would nev'erbe accepted by those expected to work on the scaffolding. Further, these devices are limited generally to flat wall attachment, and therefore are quite impractical for use on lap siding.

The bracket of this invention has proven'to be entirely safe and reliable, as well as being compact and easily assembled and mounted for use.

'Although the Figure 1 illustrated one embodiment of the invention in actual use, the construction and advanced features'of the embodiment are best illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. The'embodiment of the invention illustrated comprises a wall base member ii], a ladder engagement member ll including an arm I2 extending from the wall base member ID and two ladder retainers l3 and I4.

' As best illustrated in the Figure 3, the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated is provided with five attachment screw openings i5 through which a plurality of screws i6 may be inserted and attached to a wall, to secure the base member E0 to the wall. It is not necessary that all five openings It be used at any one time". That is, five screws are not necessary to hold the bracket securely to a wall, but very often one or more of the openings i5 may fall at a place where a screw cannot be employed and, therefore, that opening may be left unfilled with no danger of making the use of the bracket unsafe. Screw attachment, as normally used in connection with a frame house, is illustrated, but it is to be understood that other types of means to removably secure the wall base member iilto a wall surface may be employed where desirable. In most instances scaffolding of this type is placed beside the wall of a frame house for the purpose of painting the house and, there- 3 fore, wood screws are illustrated in this embodiment of the invention.

In devices heretofore used for supporting a ladder in an upright position, the means of securing the bracket to the wall has been very unstable and therefore renders the scaffolding unsafe. In recent years, there has been an attempt to provide a staging bracket which would be more stable. However, the result was a large and cumbersome bracket which has not been accepted by the trade because it is virtually impossible for one man to install the bracket on the wall by himself. Furthermore, these prior brackets are so bulky that they cover a large area of the wall and prevent the painter from finishing that section of the wall until after the bracket has been removed. In the staging bracket as illustrated in the Figure 2 of the drawings, it will be noted that the arm I2 is attached to the base member IE1 by means of a pin H. The pin I1 is removable to dismantle the arm |2 from the base member ID. A brace member I3 is provided to extend from the base member Hi to the arm I2, as illustrated in the Figure 2. A pin I9 is permanently secured to the brace I8 at one end thereof, and a pin 20 is permanently secured to the brace H3 at the other end thereof. The pins l9 and 20 areadapted to extend into suitable openings in the base I0 and arm I2, respectively, and are held in place as illustrated in the Figure 3, by means of spring pins which may be easily inserted through drilled holes on the end of the pins l9 and 2B. Thus, the brace |3 may be easily removed from the assembly, and the arm thereafter quickly removed from the base member it. Therefore, the base member ID by itself may be carried up the ladder leaning against a wall, and be quickly secured to the wall by one man. Thereafter, the arm I2 and brace l8 may be attached in place to complete the assembled staging bracket.

This bracket is entirely self-contained, and although it may be assembled and knocked down with ease, requires no search for loose parts in order to complete the assembly. In the Figures 2 and 3, a chain retainer 35 is illustrated attached to the base member I0, and has a first extension portion 36 and a second extension portion 31. The portion 36 is attached to a standard springtype cotter key which may be inserted through a laterally drilled hole in the end of the pin IT. This pin is of the type which may be compressed and inserted through the opening, and will spring back to hold within the opening. It may be used over many times. The extension 31 is provided with a standard cotter key which may be inserted through a laterally drilled opening in the pin l! at the bottom thereof as illustrated in Figure 3 opposite from the end held by the extension 36. The extension 31 is provided to retain the pin when it is removed from the holding position, and the extension 36 is provided to keep the spring cotter key available for quick securing attachment. In other words, the pin I1 and retainer key are always permanently attached to the base member Ill and will never be misplaced.

As best illustrated in the Figure 3, stabilizers 2| are illustrated extending downwardly from the wall base member ID. Adjustable wall contact members 22 are illustrated in all of the figures of the drawings, but are best illustrated in Figure 1. Thus it may be seen that the stabilizers 2| extend from the base member I" and contact the wall surface a distance from the location of the attachment screw openings I5,

4 and therefore, provide lever means to resist twisting stress placed upon the base member I0 by movement of the beam l2. Of course, substantially all of the stress will tend to be downward because of the weight of the beam l2 extending outwardly from the base member ID, and because of the tendency for workmen to grasp the beam I2 while working on the scaffolding, and the tendency to hang objects on the'beam i2. Therefore, in the usual embodiment of the invention it has been considered necessary to extend the stabilizer arms downwardly as illustrated, rather than both upwardly and downwardly. Of course, it is entirely feasible to extend the base member It in a vertical direction relative to a wall, in which case the stabilizers should be extended on both lateral sides of the base member.

The adjustable wall contact members 22 are provided in order that the contact may be maintained between the stabilizers 2| and the wall at all times, but in addition, they permit the stabilizers 2| to be extended at a distance from the surface of the wall, and therefore, painting may be done under the arm, thus avoiding undue coverage by the bracket of the surfaces to be painted.

In most instances, the base member l0 will be attached to a wall surface of lapped siding; Of course, the surface of each individual strip of siding extends at an angle relative to the general vertical direction of the wall. Therefore, if'the base member I0 is to be securely attached to the wall surface,'it will lie in contact with the surface of a siding board and, therefore, will be at an angle to the vertical direction of the general wall surface. Prior devices have provided'only point contacts across several of the boards in order that the bracket may extend laterally outwardly, and depend upon long holding devices to extend in' and reach the siding board. In staging brackets made in accordance with this invention, the arm l2 may extend at an upwardly or downwardly angle asshown in Figure 5 without any impairment of the usefulness. The ladder retainers l3 and M are both longitudinally adjustable in slots 38, as illustrated in Figure 1, and are pivotally adjustable by means of the bolt and nut attachment 39, as illustrated in Figure 2. Therefore, the ladder retainers l3 and I4 may be moved relative to one another in the slots 38 to contact the sides of a ladder, and may be pivoted in order to fully contact the. standard of the ladder regardless of the direction in which the arm l2 extends. 1

A further feature of this invention providing safety is'the ladder clamp 25, best illustrated in Figure 2.. This clamp includes a tubular body 26 and a 0 clamp member 21. The c clamp member 21 is pivotally mounted as illustrated by the tubular body 26 and maybe pivoted to clamp the ladder retainer l4 and the upright standard of a ladder tightly together. The beam I2 is thereby rigidly held to the ladder andwill not place the twisting stress on the base member ID. With this ladder clamp 25'properly in place a man can step or hang on the beam l2 without placing undue stress on the base member to weaken the attachment of the bracket to the wall. The clamp 25 may be termed a grip means.

A further feature of this invention comprises the screw retainer 30 illustrated in Figures 2 and 3. The screw retainer 30 includes a swingable arm 3|, a pivot mounting 32 to pivotally mount the arm 3|, and a spring 33 tending to hold the swingable arm 3| within the channel section of the base member II). By this means the arm Slmay be pivoted out of the channel section and thescrews I6 dropped through suitable holes 34 34, and therefore, the screws 'l6jwill be'retained in the channel section until they are needed. The

screws I6 are, therefore, always available with the base member l0 and extra'screwsneed not be carried on the person of the operator, and the screws will always be available at exactly the right place and the right time when they are needed.

A second embodimentof the principles of this invention is illustrated in the Figures 4 through 7. Referring particularly to the Figures 6 and 7, this embodiment of the invention includes a wall base member 46 having attachment sockets 4| and 42 mounted thereon. An arm i3 is in all material respects eqiivalent to the arm l2, but is provided with an attachment member 44 secured at the mounting end thereof. The attachment sockets 4| and 42 are adapted to receive the attachment member 44 therein. The sockets 4| and 42, and the attachment member 44 are illustrated as having cylindrical matching surfaces, but it is, of course, understood that square, or other suitable cross-sectional configurations are possible variations thereof.

A lock screw 45 on the attachment socket ii,

and a lock screw 48 on the attachment socket 42, are adapted to hold the attachment member 44 securely within a selected one of the sockets. The attachment sockets 4| and 42 are mounted on the wall base member 46, preferably by welding, and the internal diameters thereof extend substantially at right angles relative to one another. Therefore, the base member 453 may be mounted on the side of a wall as illustrated in Figure 5, and the attachment member 44 of the arm 43 placed in the attachment socket 4|. On the other hand, the base member 48 may be mounted on the overhang of a roof, as illustrated in Figure 4, in which event the attachment member 44 may be inserted in attachment socket 42. The base member 4!} may be held tightly on the roof by means of large clamps 28 if it is undesirable to use the attachment screws as normally employed when the base member is used on the side wall of the building. Thus, the base member may be employed on the side of a wall in a manner similar to that described in connection with the first embodiment of the invention, and in addition, may be employed on low houses, or in conjunction with porch roofs, by placing the base member 40 on the overhang of the roof. In either event, the arm 43 may be extended laterally away from the wall of the house.

Although the lock screws 45 and 45 are ordinarily sufficient to hold the attachment member 44 safely and securely within the selected attachment socket 4! or 42, I have provided a circumferential groove ll around the attachment member 44 in order that the screws 45 and 46 may mechanically interlock with the attachment member 44, as well as provide friction engagement.

A stabilizer 43 similar to the stabilizer 2!, is provided with an attachment member 49 of similar dimension and construction as the attachment member 44. Therefore, the stabilizer 48 is interchangeable in the attachment sockets 4i and 42 with the arm 43. Thus, when the device is used on the side of a building as illustrated *inthe Figure .5, the attachment-imcmbfil 49 is placed within the attachment socket, and

the attachment member 44.011 the-arm. 43 is placed in the attachment socket 41.. However, when the base member. 4!! is placed'onpthe'ex tension of the roof as illustrated in the. Figure 4, the stabilizer 43 is not used, and theattachment member 44 is placed in the attachment socket 42. Therefore, it will be seen that the second embodiment of the invention has acer tain particular advantages not available in the first embodiment, and the first embodiment. has certain particular advantages not available in the second embodiment. However, in' actualconstruction, it has been found'to be advantageous in'certain instances to combine the two embodiments in one complete assembly. 'In order.to do this, a pivotal attachment 5!] is placed on the end of the arm 43 opposite the attachment member 44. The base member 40 is provided with a pin opening 5i, and the brace member 18 may be adapted to extend from an opening 52 in the base member 40 to an opening 53 in the arm 43. Thus, the arm 43 may be turned end for end and be employed in exactly the same manner as discussed in connection with the embodiment illustrated in the Figures 1 to 3.

Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What is claimed is:

1. A scaffolding bracket comprising, an elongated base attachment member, said base member having anchor portions to hold the base member on a wall surface, first and second attachment socket members each having a substantially identical socket recess with an entrance opening, said socket members being rigidly mounted on said base member with the socket recesses thereof offset at right angles with respect to one another, a ladder engagement arm, said ladder engagement arm having an attachment end dimensioned to fit either of said socket recesses, a stabilizer arm, said stabilizer arm having an attachment end dimensioned to fit either of said socket recesses, and means to secure said attachment ends in a selected socket, said ladder engagement arm having grip means to hold a ladder, said stabilizer arm having adjustable Wall contact means at the end thereof opposite said attachment end.

2. A scaffolding bracket comprising, an elongated base attachment member, said base member having anchor portions to hold the base member on a wall surface, first and second attaohment socket members each having a substantially identical socket recess with an entrance opening, said socket members being rigidly mounted on said base member with the socket recesses thereof offset at right angles with respect to one another, a ladder engagement arm, said ladder engagement arm having an attachment end dimensioned to fit either of said socket recesses, and a stabilizer arm, said stabilizer arm having an attachment end dimensioned to fit either of said socket recesses, and means to secure said attachment ends in a selected socket,

said ladder engagement arm having grip .means to hold a ladder.

3. A scaffolding bracket. comprising, a an elongated base attachment member, saidbase member having anchor portions to hold the base member on a wall surface, first and second attachmentsocket members each having a socket recess of equal size with an entrance opening,

an attachment end dimensioned to fit either one of said socket recesses, andmeans to secure said attachment ends in a selected socket, said ladder engagement arm having vice grip means to rigid 1y. join the engagement arm to a ladder.

WILLIAM MAQPHERSON.

References Cited the file of this pat nt NTTED STATES PATENTS F Number a 245,682 770,685 1,211,868 1,226,858 1,239,472 10 2,116,831 2,272,349 2,503,137

15 Number Name Date Wilcox Aug. 16,1881 .Haas Sept. 20, 1904 More et al. Jan. 9, 1917 Burrell May 22, 1917 Florian Sept. 11, 1917 Hoy May 10, 1938 Noser Feb. 10, 1942 Sloss' Apr. 4, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany May 21, 1895 

